Illusion device



Get. 3, 1933.

R. J. KIDD ILLUSION DEVICE Filed May 31. 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R. J. KIDD ILLUSION DEVICE Oct 3, 1933.

Filed May 31, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 3, 1933 UNITED STATES ILLUSION DEVICE Rollo J. Kidd, Gibbsboro, N. J., assignor of onehalf to Everett G. n. c.

Clements, Washington,

Application May 31, 1933. Serial No. 673,789

7 Claims.

My invention relates broadly to advertising devices, especially those intended for use in store window displays, as well as to toys, and has for its primary object to provide an article display device that will excite curiosity and cause persons attracted thereby to study and speculate as to its operation.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel device of this character in which the movement of certain parts may be plainly seen by observers, the movement of the parts tending toadd to the illusion.

More specifically my invention relates to such.

an illusion device adapted to animate and thereby display relatively thin and unstable articles of manufacture, such as, for example, safety razor blades, figured toys of sheet metal, etc., in which the article is sustained on edge in desired position in contact with a moving surface, without visible means of support, and caused to skip about or dance while thus sustained.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and on which similar reference characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an illusion device embodying the principles of my invention and showing a safety razor blade (as an example of article to be displayed thereby) suspended on edge in the center of a miniature stage, without visible means of support;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of said device, the view being in the nature of a horizontal section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view taken from the right hand corner of the view shown in Fig. 1 with housing portions partially broken away to show the relationship of the magnet poles to the endless conveyor or belt on which an article to be displayed is supported on edge in the magnetic field;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view showing a slightly modified form of the device illustrated/in Figs. 1 to 3, in which an endless disc-like member is mounted for rotation in a plane parallel to the stage floor. The view also illustrates the mounting of separate magnets relative to the stage;

Figs. 5 and 6 are diagrammatic views in elevation showing modified arrangements of the movably mounted stage wall whereby the article may be suspended and animated in desired position relative to the stage opening.

In illusion devices of the character herein shown it is material that certain parts essential in the intended operation of the device be concealed from observers and that the device be constructed in an attractive and ornamental manner. To this end I provide a box-like housing 5, the front wall 6 of which is extended beyond the ends and top of the housing, and the intermediate portion of the wall 6 is cut out to form a substantially rectangular opening '7 in representation of a stage. The floor wall of the stage is provided with an endless conveyor .8

mounted on rolls 9 and 10, the conveyor being in the form of a broad fiat belt of suitable nonmagnetic material, such as paper or cloth, having a relatively smooth surface finish. The belt 8 extends parallel to the floor of the stage for substantially the width of the stage opening 7 and is adapted to support, or at least presumably support, articles of manufacture which are displayed thereon.

To operate this device the belt 8 is driven through the medium of a small electric motor 11 and reduction gearing 12, which gearing is suitably connected to the shaft 13 of the roll 10. The belt 8 is stretched taut between the rolls by a belt tightening device, comprising an adjusting nut 14 having threaded engagement with a rod 14 extending from an end of the vertically adjustable platform 15, which nut 14 is bearinged at its outer end in slots in the roll supporting brackets 16 slidably mounted on said platform.

Where desired, electric lamps 17 may be provided over the stage, preferably behind the upper portions of curtain 18 or other drapes employed about the stage opening 7 and the circuits of the lamps and the electric motor 11 may be controlled by any suitable handswitch (not shown). In this way, a single control means is all that is required to put the device into operation to animate and display an article A, such as shown in Fig. 1, sustained on edge upon the belt 8 at approximately the center of the stage opening 7 by means now to be described.

A permanent magnet 19 of horseshoe-shape is rigidly fixed with respect to the housing 5, as indicated at 20, so that the bow of the magnet extends vertically behind and around the rear wall 21 of the stage. The arms 22 and 23 of the magnet extend towards the front wall 6 and are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the height of the stage so that the arm or pole piece 22 overlies the ceiling wall 24 of the stage and the arm or pole piece 23 underlies the upper extent or working surface of the belt 8 which comprises the floor wall of the stage, as shown in Fig. 3. The magnet 19 is thus concealed by the stage parts just enumerated when viewed from the front wall 6. If desired, an outer housing portion 25 may be provided to completely enclose the magnet. Obviously, these housing portions, as well as the belt 8 are constructed of suitable non-magnetic material so that a strong magnetic field is produced between the pole pieces 22 and 23 through the belt 8 and ceiling wall 24 at approximately the center of the stage, as indicated by the upright position of the article A in Fig. 1. While the device just described is intended primarily for the display of small articles of manufacture, it is not necessarily limited to this field and use.

To adapt the device for proper or desired operation with articles of varying sizes and shapes it has been found advantageous to mount the endless belt or other moving floor member 8 for vertical adjustment relative to the pole pieces 22 and 23. To this end I have shown the platform 15, on which the rolls 9 and 10 and driving motor 11 are mounted, pivotally connected to the baseboard 26 by elevating links 27 disposed adjacent each corner of the platform. Adjusting screws 28, suitably connected to the baseboard, are pivotally connected to a pair of said links so as to provide means for shifting the platform slightly longitudinally of the base to cause the links 27 to swing on their pivotal connections to raise or lower the platform as desired and thereby vary the distance between the belt 8 and pole piece 23.

While I have shown in the preferred embodiment of the invention a movable stage fioor wall or member comprising an endless belt 8 adapted to be continuously driven in a single direction, it is obvious that the belt may be intermittently driven and its direction of travel reversed as desired by the employment of suitable gearing or means old in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown more or less diagrammatically a rearrangement of the parts illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, whereby an article A to be displayed and animated in accordance with the teachings of this invention may be sustained on edge in other positions than that shown in the preferred form, Fig. 6 being a substantial reversal of the parts shown in Fig: 1.

It will also be understood that in place of the endless belt 8, a rotary tablet or disc 8, as shown in Fig. 4, may be employed in which an annular portion of the tablet is supported for travel between the magnetic pole pieces 22' and 23' within the housing 5. As is also shown in Fig. 4, the desired magnetic field may be produced by separate electric magnets, in which case the circuits (not shown) controlling the driving motor and illuminating means may be: connected to the windings of the magnets 22' and 23' for simultaneous energization thereof.

In the operation of the illusion device above described, an article A to be displayed, and constructed preferably from sheet iron or steel, is placed on edge upon the movable stage floor at approximately the center of the stage opening 7. The article will be sustained in this position by the magnetic field produced between the pole pieces 22 and 23 with an edge of the article resting upon the surface of the fioor to which it is drawn by the pole piece 23 disposed adjacent the underside thereof. The motor 11, being set into operation, moves the floor member through the magnetic field as above described. This movement of the floor member relative to the pole pieces and article suspended on edge between the pole pieces tends to draw the article out of the magnetic field, due to friction between the parts, causing it to skip and dance.

The movements of the article thus displayed may be controlled to some extent by slightly roughing the relatively smooth surface of the movable floor member 8 at spaced spots arranged to regular or irregular intervals, as indicated at 29 in Fig. 4. By this means the article A may be caused to turn about to display opposite sides thereof, as well as to dance and skip upon its edge without visible means of support.

While I have shown and described but a few embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

I claim:-

1. In an illusion device of the class described. a support, magnetic pole pieces carried by said support and arranged in spaced relation, and a nonmagnetic, article supporting and animating member mounted for movement between said pole pieces.

2. In an illusion device of the class described, a support, magnetic pole pieces carried by said support and disposed in spaced relation, and an endless, article supporting and animating member mounted for movement between said pole pieces.

3. In an illusion device of the class described, a support including a housing, magnetic pole pieces carried by said support and disposed in vertical spaced relation concealed by said hous- 1 ing, said housing being formed to provide an open space between said pole pieces, an endless article supporting and animating member mounted for movement between said pole pieces, and means for driving said member. 1

4. In an illusion device of the class described, a support, an article supporting and animating member of nonmagnetic material mounted for movement relative to said support, means carried by said support and disposed on opposite 1 sides of said member, said means being spaced from one side of said member a substantial distance, whereby to provide an operating area for an article suspended on edge in the magnetic field upon said movably mounted member.

5. An advertising device comprising magnetic pole pieces spaced to provide a magnetic field of substantial extent therebetween, a housing enclosing said pole pieces, and means mounted for movement relative to said housing and through the magnetic field adjacent one pole piece, whereby an article responsive to and suspended in the magnetic field in edge contact with said means is caused to dance and skip about without visible means of support.

6. An illusion device of the class described, comprising a housing having walls arranged to represent a stage, a wall of said stage being mounted for movement relative to said housing, and means carried by said housing and concealed by the walls thereof for creating a magnetic field through and beyond said movably mounted wall.

'7. An illusion device of the class described, comprising a housing having walls arranged to represent a stage, an endless belt mounted on rolls for movement relative to said housing, means carried by said housing and concealed by the walls thereof for creating a magnetic field through and beyond said belt, and means for adjusting said belt relative to said first mentioned means.

ROLLO J. KIDD. 

